Britain has a moral and historical obligation to arm the Kurds
against the Islamic State jihadists now menacing Irbil, and failure to
so would be certain to amplify the terror threat at home, the Kurdish
security chief, Masrour Barazani, said on Tuesday.
In an interview with the Guardian, Barazani, chancellor of the Kurdistan region security council, has implored the British public not to allow fatigue from more than 10 years of war to stop support for the Kurds in what is fast shaping up to be the biggest threat to Iraqi Kurdish society since the collapse of the Ottoman empire almost 100 years ago.
He said: "In terms of drawing the lines [the regional borders], the UK had the greatest role in the creation of the modern Middle East. Now is not the time to say it is not our problem. I would like Britain to remember that we are not Helmand, or Basra, we are your friends."
Mentioning the British-French agreement that enshrined the modern states of Lebanon and Syria, and led to the creation of Iraq's borders, he added: "For how long do the Kurds have to pay the price of the mistakes that were made? We are victims of Sykes Picot. For how long do we have to be held hostage, or to be vulnerable?
"The international community needs to find a solution for the Kurds. Everybody underestimated the strength, the role and the agenda of Isis [or the Islamic State as the group now names itself] and is now regretting it.
This is an organisation that does recognise any legitimate border, or tolerate plurality. It rejects everything else beside itself."
Read more: Britain has 'moral duty to arm Kurds against Islamic State' | World news | theguardian.com
In an interview with the Guardian, Barazani, chancellor of the Kurdistan region security council, has implored the British public not to allow fatigue from more than 10 years of war to stop support for the Kurds in what is fast shaping up to be the biggest threat to Iraqi Kurdish society since the collapse of the Ottoman empire almost 100 years ago.
He said: "In terms of drawing the lines [the regional borders], the UK had the greatest role in the creation of the modern Middle East. Now is not the time to say it is not our problem. I would like Britain to remember that we are not Helmand, or Basra, we are your friends."
Mentioning the British-French agreement that enshrined the modern states of Lebanon and Syria, and led to the creation of Iraq's borders, he added: "For how long do the Kurds have to pay the price of the mistakes that were made? We are victims of Sykes Picot. For how long do we have to be held hostage, or to be vulnerable?
"The international community needs to find a solution for the Kurds. Everybody underestimated the strength, the role and the agenda of Isis [or the Islamic State as the group now names itself] and is now regretting it.
This is an organisation that does recognise any legitimate border, or tolerate plurality. It rejects everything else beside itself."
Read more: Britain has 'moral duty to arm Kurds against Islamic State' | World news | theguardian.com
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